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The Behrend Beacon
'Girl Next Door' isn't so 'Risky'
review by Jay Boyar
The Orlando Sentinel
In "The Girl Next Door," an 18-year
old overachiever falls for the new girl
next door, who (surprise!) turns out to
be an ex-porn star.
This leering premise, the production
notes solemnly explain, "could easily
have been turned into a raucous teen
comedy." But director Luke Greenfield
was after bigger fish - something "heart
felt, edgy and a little bit scary."
So instead of an unpretentious sex
farce, what we have here is a sex farce
with artistic pretensions. The film is like
a hooker dressed up as a lady:
It wants to pretend it has class.
The production notes don't single out
"Risky Business," but the 1983 Tom
Cruise comedy seems like what
Greenfield had in mind. The hero's name
is Matthew Kidman, which may be a bit
of a joke.
Like Cruise's old character, Matthew
is an ambitious straight arrow who
comes unglued when circumstances and
a pretty face conspire to upset his tidy
world. Entranced by his neighbor, the
winsome Danielle, Matthew finds him
self drawn into some pretty risky busi
ness himself.
The riskiest thing about it is Kelly, a
charming thug who used to be Danielle's
producer.
Kelly is determined that Danielle
should come back to the porn world. So
to save her, Matthew must descend into
that world himself.
Is this starting to sound intriguing?
Maybe it is, but only in a totally cheesy
way.
Director Greenfield (Rob Schneider's
"The Animal") has said that the film is
about "exploring life's wild side." But it's
really about titillation - covered with a
Perry says goodbye to 'Friends'
by Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
Matthew Perry says he had to fight back the tears
when it came time to say goodbye to wisecracking
Chandler Bing. "I didn't cry, but I felt like I was about
to for like seven hours," the 34-year-old "Friends" star
said in an interview.
"There was a sweet moment where my girlfriend
(fashion student Rachel Dunn) and I went for a walk
on the stage. No one was there. We just held hands and
walked around. It was sweet."
Perry - and the rest of the cast - knew what they were
leaving behind when TV's No. 1 comedy taped its con
cluding episode, set to air May 6, several weeks ago.
"None of us will probably be involved in anything as
successful as 'Friends' again," he said. "That's some
thing we just have to deal with.
"We can have big successful movies, but nothing will
ever be that first time again, and nothing will likely
span that long a period of time. So we look back, and
kind of smile, and move on."
For Perry, moving on starts Friday with "The Whole
Ten Yards," the sequel to "The Whole Nine Yards," play
ing hapless dentist Nicholas (Oz) Oseransky, who has
to recruit his former neighbor, Jimmy the Tulip (Bruce
Willis), and Jimmy's wife/fellow assassin, Jill (Amanda
Peet), to rescue Oz's kidnapped wife.
"It's tough to have a movie-star persona when you're
on a show as successful as 'Friends,'" Perry says. "There
was talk the first few years about a curse for us movie
wise. But I don't think any of us will crash and burn
now. I think we were very fortunate.
"If I never work again, that's not crashing and burn
ing, that's called already making your mark.
"And, without the safety net of the show to go back
to, I guess we'll all be a little more careful picking mov
ies!"
Before "The Whole Nine Yards" in 2000, Perry's
movies, including "Fools Rush In," "Unsung Heroes"
and "Three to Tango," were not successful.
In fact, it was while filming 2002's "Serving Sara"
with Elizabeth Hurley that Perry had a relapse of his
addiction to painkillers and wound up in rehab. The
actor had spent time at Minnesota's Hazelden clinic in
1997 for a dependency on Vicodin.
It's all about the entrance in "The Girl Next Door."
deadening veneer of high purpose.
Part of what's wrong is that Emile
Hirsch, who plays Matthew, doesn't have
the dynamism - the star power - to carry
a movie. Hirsch ("The Emperor's Club")
has the nerdiness of a top student, but
it's harder to see where his ambition
comes from
That was never a problem with the
turbo-charged Cruise in "Risky Busi-
As Danielle, Elisha Cuthbert (TV's
"24") is fine in the early scenes, when
she's just supposed to look va-va-va
voom sexy. But later, when the mood
turns grim and actual acting is called for,
she doesn't always have it in her. Basi
cally, Cuthbert can't stop twinkling.
There are, evidently, a lot of men who
will pay for a hooker who looks like a
lady. And there may be a lot of movie
goers who will pay to see a cheesy film
The press reported several relapses - along with an un
related incident in which he crashed his Porsche into a
house in the Hollywood Hills - which he says are over now.
"For me, it was never a question of breaking the law - it
was a guy facing his private demons. So I was lucky. People
seem to be behind me. ... The fact that everyone under
stood helped a lot."
His varying weight over the years was also "part of the
struggles I went through," he says, adding: "I'm far away
from the hellish parts of all that."
He still smokes, but is in great shape - though, contrary
to reports, Aniston didn't act as his personal trainer.
"No, she offered to help me dress! I'm a T-shirt and jeans
guy, and Jennifer wanted to help me be a better dresser.
Not be my trainer - she's got better things to do!"
Born in Williamstown, Mass., Perry moved to Ottawa,
Canada, as a kid, then got into acting after his first career
choice - professional tennis - didn't pan out. He got roles
in TV movies (he played Desi
Arnaz Jr. in the Patty Duke biopic "Call Me Anna") and
failed sitcoms, then was the last actor to be cast for
"Friends" in 1994, which ended up with each cast member
making $1 million per episode.
"It was a bit like, 'Do we really deserve this?' But with
out sounding weird, everybody made so much money off
the show, the producers, the network, why shouldn't we be
a part of it?
"It was as if the six of us were in a slingshot, shot into
this craziness," he says. "We were thrust into public life,
and we told intimate secrets about ourselves before we
learned that we don't have to talk about our private life."
Since becoming famous, Perry's been linked with nu
merous actresses and starlets, though he says many reports
were rumors
I never met."
"That was back in '95," he says. "The funny thing about
that was, when I was dating Julia, we had camera crews all
around outside my house, and when we broke up, they left
and followed her!" he says with a laugh.
"I was like, ' Wait, I thought I made it."
Now, even though he's excited about his movie career,
he still says wistfully he'd do "Friends" all over again.
"Everybody loved each other so much that, if it was about
just being with the cast, I'd be there for another 10 years."
that looks like something substantial.
So if you're already entranced by
Cuthbert's alluring photo in the ads and
you need a plausible excuse to see this
film, you could go for Timothy
Olyphant's performance as Kelly.
Kelly may only be a porn producer,
but he carries himself with the confi
dence of a movie star. His viciousness at
first seems like sunny self-assurance, and
it's easy to understand why Emile goes
along with him.
But when Kelly is crossed, he's bru
tal. And Olyphant ("Go") makes you
believe in that side of him, too.
"Sometimes in life, if you wanna do
something good, you gotta do something
bad," Kelly instructs Emile.
And sometimes, when you want to
make a "raucous teen comedy," you have
to tell yourself that it's "heartfelt, edgy
and a little bit scary."
"Yes, some I dated. But most of the girls I was linked to,
One woman he did date was Julia Roberts
Friday, April 9, 2004
A&E Event Spotlight
Women's International
Film Series
"WHALE RIDER"--A young girl, born into a dying New Zealand tribal com
munity, must overcome her conventional grandfather's constant rejection to
achieve her destiny as the girl who would bring back the honor of her people.
Call it a feminist film or call it a love story; either way this coming-of-age
drama is the perfect combination of tender storytelling and pensive cinematog
raphy. Niki Caro directs the film with a mystic diligence, creating a masterpiece
of both heart and soul. Keisha Castle-Hughes gives a star-making performance
as the strong-minded girl with an entire cast of compelling performances to
back her up. Also starring Rawire Paratene, Cliff Curtis and Vicky Haughton.
"Whale Rider," directed by Niki Caro and starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, will
be shown as part of the Women ' s International Film Series. The screening is
scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Reed 117.
'Passion' makes
U.S. top 10 list,
alms hit POO ;pot
by Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Can Mel Gibson sink "Titanic" and be
come the new king of the box office?
"The Passion of the Christ" has already
earned $330 million in U.S. and Canadian
ticket sales since it opened six weeks ago.
breaking all sorts of box-office records
along the way.
That number is likely to soar in upcom
ing days, with audiences expected to flock
to theaters during the Easter holiday to see
the controversial film, which focuses on the
last 12 hours in the life of Jesus.
In anticipation of a holiday surge,
Newmarket Film Group added 194 screens
this week.
That brings the total showings of "Pas
sion" to 3,408, a huge number for a movie
well into the second month of its run.
Now some experts are even saying that
it's possible the blockbuster religious epic
could eventually replace James Cameron's
"Titanic" as the most popular movie of all
time.
"Titanic's" $600.8 million domestic box
office record is still a distant target, and
its $l.B billion worldwide mark seems in
surmountable, even with divine interven-
But after "Passion's" astonishing first
several weeks of business, one would be
tempting fate to bet against it. Consider:
During its first five days in release, "Pas
sion" grossed $125.2 million, edging ahead
of Oscar-winner "The Lord of the Rings:
The Return of the King" for the five-day
opening record.
A day later, it raced past the $128.1 mil
lion record for subtitled films set by mar
tial-arts feature "Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon."
Two weeks later, it eclipsed "My Big Fat
Greek Wedding's" $241.4 million record
for an independent film.
By the end of March, it had knocked off
"The Matrix: Reloaded" ($281.5 million)
Daniel J. Stasiewski & Erika Jarvis
a&e editor
behrcolls@aol.com
as the most popular R-rated movie re
leased in the U.S.
Last weekend, "Passion" elbowed
gentle "Forrest Gump" ($329.4 million)
out of the No. 10 spot on the all-time list
of movie blockbusters, and seems des
tined to end up somewhere in the top
five.
"Passion" is just now reaching inter
national markets. But the early response
has been strong, especially in Latin
America and countries with large Catho
lic populations.
And its been doing brisk box-office
business in Arab countries across the
Middle East, including Egypt, where it
opened to large crowds last Wednesday.
It hit theaters in Russia on Tuesday,
and premiered in Italy on Wednesday.
Whatever it does from here, "Passion"
is making Gibson, who owns it outright,
a very rich man. Industry analyst Anne
Thompson reported in the Washington
Post recently that when all receipts are
tallied from "Passion's" worldwide the
atrical run, its DVD and video sales, pay
and network TV syndication, and books
and merchandising, Gibson's personal
account may be enriched by more than
half a billion dollars.
And who's to say the movie won't be
come a popular Easter evergreen, re-re
leased this time every year?
Whatever misgivings critics have
about the controversial movie, no one
can deny that Gibson has bridged film
and religious culture in a way no other
filmmaker has.
He's made a dramatized sermon, a tent
revival writ large, one that calls on the
devout and involves them in virtual real
time in the most significant event of their
faith.
"Passion" might deserve an asterisk
wherever it ends up in the box-office
records, but it could still be the greatest
success story ever told.